The Swiss Green Economy Symposium, held midweek in Winterthur, was well-attended by familiar faces and key stakeholders from business, academia, and politics. The symposium covered a broad range of topics, including the circular economy, food issues, healthcare, and transportation, but was effectively orchestrated. 

Reducing emissions while simultaneously ensuring the supply of goods and services to cities costs money and shouldn't rely on self-exploitation, as is the case with some bicycle couriers. This is just one of the findings of the Swiss Green Economy Symposium (SGES). Some hopes are also pinned on autonomous last-mile delivery. And there's still room for improvement among parcel and courier service providers, as well as in collaborations for establishing shared distribution centers for last-mile delivery in metropolitan areas. In other words: there's still a lot to be done.

Photo: Swissconnect

Following the motto "It's good that we talked about it," there is a clear overlap of differing requirements. Jürgen Maier-Gyomlay from the Association of Shippers rightly pointed to one of the problems that, for some, only lurks in the background: While towns and municipalities have a strong interest in managing the flood of traffic, the manufacturing sector pays taxes locally, and municipalities don't directly benefit from revenue in the areas of "transport" and "logistics." Instead, they are defined more as (delivery) destinations. A certain degree of inertia is noted here.

Photo: Quickpac

For example, the current 94.2 million tons of freight and goods transported (13% by rail, 87% by road, of which 37.5 million tons are within the cantonal borders) in and around the Zurich metropolitan area are expected to increase significantly by 2040, given a projected population of two million. While much progress is already being made nationwide towards relieving road congestion, in line with the rail expansion measures (AS 2035) decided upon by the Federal Council, "this will not be sufficient by 2050," says Paul Schneeberger from the Office for Mobility of the Canton of Zurich.

A kind of "rugby" in road traffic

Arnold Berndt from the Federal Office of Transport insists that logistics must be given greater consideration in spatial planning. Like Gyomlay, he knows that the necessary capacities must be provided and compares the efforts in this regard to American rugby, a kind of rough-and-tumble on the field. The state must set the rules of the game. "If they aren't right, they have to be adjusted." This undoubtedly includes a high availability of rail connections.

Graphic: Zurich Office for Mobility.

The desired outcome is the automation of the "last mile" and intelligent capacity management, even for small batch sizes. A transshipment bonus favoring rail is intended to achieve this. However, the single wagonload traffic serves as a reminder that the project must be economically viable for private logistics service providers and transport companies.

It's still unclear who will operate the numerous planned terminals and hubs in areas near the city center – for example, in Zurich – but this will likely lead to different implementations, whether private or public. Berndt, speaking at the session on "Urban Supply and Waste Management," said: "Even after my presentation, you still won't know what the future of freight transport will truly look like." A true statement.

Freight transport and logistics concept of the Canton of Zurich. Graphic: Office for Mobility Zurich

Philipp Wegmüller of the Coop subsidiary "railCare" presented the supply chain from Coop's upstream distribution center in Aclens, Vaud, to the transshipment at the Cornavin train station and into the heart of Geneva (the "CityCargo Geneve" freight metro) as an exemplary model. "Ultimately, we are struggling with declining public acceptance of logistics," he said. "railCare's primary mission is supply. Our second core mission is innovation," Wegmüller added.

«CityCargo Geneve» as a model

RailCare has invested heavily in digitalization in recent years. 1,200 swap bodies are in operation. Freight trains traveling from Aclens to Geneva city center are powered by onboard axle generators and batteries for cooling above 40 km/h. An ant-like, tentacle-like mobile robot named "Snoopy" could eventually replace wagon inspections, which are currently very labor-intensive and require inspectors. RailCare also plans to launch a "CityCargo" project in Zurich in 2024, which could potentially eliminate up to 58,000 truck journeys – at least that is the goal.

Photo: klk.

Titus Bütler, head of transport at Swiss Post, offers a surprising observation. While the postal service handles 77 rail connections daily, road transport remains significantly more flexible. Furthermore, he states, "An electric truck is already more economical than the train for distances up to 50 km!" Robert Brohl, head of supply chain at Digitec Galaxus, echoes this sentiment. He emphasizes the importance of careful planning and a greater focus on lower-emission transport options. "But as an online retailer," he adds, "we absolutely depend on speed.".

Slowly is not an option

Bütler answers the question about consolidation and cooperation in inner-city delivery traffic, among other things, by pointing out that with 200 postal vehicles driving into the city, everything is already highly consolidated and the distribution of routes is largely optimized. "There's almost nothing left to consolidate.".

Björn Lindner, Head of Innovations at the logistics provider Planzer, finds the demands placed on drivers for urban delivery routes "already very challenging." However, Planzer is not fundamentally opposed to collaborating with other logistics providers. For example, they could "discuss further" the possibility of shared use of rail sidings.

Swissconnect, a courier service, is one example of how CO2-reduced working methods don't necessarily make everything easier. Within cities, they largely rely on bicycle couriers, while for longer distances they use the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). Goods are transferred directly from bicycles to train carriages right at the platform. Over 80 express courier services across Switzerland cooperate with Swissconnect. A proprietary software platform makes it all possible.

Founder Christoph Masoner admits that the issue of wages is currently a pressing concern for bicycle couriers. Logistics services, in general, need to be better paid. "The move towards a lower-carbon future costs money," says Masoner.

A low-carbon future costs "real money".

Highly automated and autonomously controlling delivery vehicles like the "Loxo" point far into the future, but can already be seen in practice in Ebikon, where they are operating for Migros and Schindler. The availability of data is also of great importance for autonomous delivery traffic. It remains to be clarified who, in cooperation with other providers, as well as with vehicles still "staffed" by drivers, will disclose what information.

www.sges.ch

Klaus Koch